A professional orthopedic walker (not shown) is typically constructed from one inch tubing formed from aluminum or another metal material, and includes a front portion and side portions extending from the lateral ends of the front portion such that a walker user stands between the side portions and rests on handles built into the side portions. Each side portion typically has two legs, where the legs have wheels or non-skid end caps.
While many improvements to such conventional walkers have been proposed (e.g., a foldable walker, upper and lower sets of handles, attached lights, attached basket, etc.), the basic design has currently remained the same. However, it has been observed that such basic design looks utilitarian and even "medical", and that such appearance reduces an individual's desire to use a conventional walker. Moreover, it has been observed that such an appearance can act as a social barrier by causing other people to feel awkward about approaching the walker user. While it is known that objects such as walkers can be made more "friendly" simply by the addition of one or more "friendly" colors, such addition of colors is limited in aluminum walkers.
As is also known, a conventional aluminum walker can be relatively expensive in terms of material and manufacturing costs. Further, such conventional aluminum walkers can be relatively heavy. Generally, there is a reduction of material costs, manufacturing costs and weight, when an object is constructed from a polymer rather than from a metal, such as the aluminum. Moreover, in constructing polymer objects, the addition of one or more colors is relatively simple, usually by adding pigment to the raw polymer prior to formation into the object. However, polymers normally have less rigorous mechanical, tensile and other properties than metals, with a result that a polymer version of an object cannot perform the same functions as an otherwise identical metal version of the object. As should be evident, then, prior to the present invention it was not possible to simply replace a conventional aluminum walker with an otherwise identical polymer walker.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved design for a walker, where the walker design can be constructed from an appropriate relatively less expensive and relatively lighter polymer, and where such walker is less expensive to manufacture. Moreover, a need exists for such a polymer walker that is as reliable and sturdy as a conventional aluminum walker.